GUWAHATI, Aug 13: At least 15 people were killed and 20 seriously wounded on Tuesday in a brutal pre-independence day attack by separatists in India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya, officials said.

A police spokesman said heavily armed militants waylaid a truck carrying about 100 businessmen near village Raksamgiri, 430 kilometres west of Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong.

“The truck was stopped by the militants and then the passengers were lined up on the road before being shot at from close range with automatic weapons,” Meghalaya police chief L. Sailo said.

At least 12 people died on the spot and three died of bullet injuries later.

“The death toll could rise as conditions of many of the injured was reported to be very critical,” a police spokesman said from West Garo Hill district of Meghalaya, where the attack took place.

The truck carrying the villagers was on way to a weekly market at Raksamgiri when the militants attacked.

India will celebrate its independence day on Thursday and at least a dozen outlawed militant groups have called for a boycott of the celebrations in the northeast.

The groups have warned of “stern action” against anyone taking part in the annual celebrations.

The police chief said Tuesday’s strike was a joint attack by militants belonging to the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC), the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

The ULFA and the NDFB are rebel groups fighting for independent homelands in Assam state, while the ANVC is waging a bush war to carve out an independent state for the Garo tribe in Meghalaya.

Federal troops were put on alert across the region with specific intelligence reports of rebel attacks on vital installations, including possible sui-cide bombers targeting soldiers and crowded market places.—AFP